Russia: US Warplanes Bombed Aleppo Hospitals, Not Russians

Russia’s Defense Ministry has denied US allegations that they attacked a pair of hospitals in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, insisting no Russian planes were in the city on Wednesday, and that the only airstrikes in the area were carried out by a US aircraft.

The US and some US-backed rebels have been hyping claims of Russian airstrikes in and around Aleppo in recent days, as Syria’s military launches an offensive north of the city which is cutting off certain key rebel supply lines.

The US hasn’t responded to the Russian report, which suggested only an American A-10 was active over Aleppo city on Wednesday. An American A-10 was notably behind the attack on an MSF hospital in Afghanistan late last year.

While the US made a habit of denying all incidents of civilian casualties earlier in their air campaign in Syria, that they and Russia are both carrying out competing operations in many of the same areas seems tailor made for allowing the two nations to both blame the other when incidents happen.

The A-10 CAS (Close Air Support) ground attack aircraft flies at 450mph, relatively slow compared to other Mach+ military airplanes. It has a distinct air frame design with two large turbofan engines mounted on either side of the fuselage. It cannot be confused in any way with a SU-24 Russian bomber.

Surely some persons working in or near the Aleppo hospitals can give an eye witness testimony that it was the U.S. Air Force that recklessly did the bombing, just like
it did to the hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October, 2015.